MovieChat Forums > Friday the 13th (2009) Discussion > What is with the hate for this movie?

What is with the hate for this movie?

posted 8 years ago by npiazza91
9 replies | jump to latest

I'm just gonna say it right now. People hate remakes...or reboot, or whatever you want to call them. Sure, not every remake is hated but a majority of them are, specifically because they are remakes. Yes, a lot of them ARE bad, but this film (and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2003 remake) aren't bad at all. In fact, I think they are very good. First of all, the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre cannot be touched in the slasher genre. That is my opinion, take it or leave it. Yes, it is far better than the overrated Halloween. It is the only thing in a slasher film (other than A Nightmare on Elm Street and the opening scene in Scream) that has managed to truly scare me to this day.

Now, on to the Friday films...let's stop kidding ourselves. The Friday franchise was never "good". It never reached the true terror of the original Nightmare on Elm Street, it never reached the tension of Halloween (even though I don't personally care for it, it is still a well made film), and it never reached the intensity and macabre of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It has always kinda been there, the "popcorn film" of horror. The film was solid for its time, I certainly don't give any fault to people who say it's just a cash grab off the coattails of Halloween. The second film was more of the same. Entertining, yes, not much more. The third film, while classic for giving Jason his mask, is borderline self parody...by this point the franchise wasn't scary in the slightest. The fourth film...now this is where it gets interesting. This film was, and still is (in my opinion) the best in the series.

Flash forward to part 5...possibly one of the worst films I have ever seen in my life, and it pretty much stays that way until the end. Sure, part 6 is funny and entertaining, but it's not horror, it's pure Batman and Robin camp. Come on, we want to see a horror movie, not a film that treats itself like a joke. Part 6 is terrible...yeah in a good way like The Room, but it's not a good film. Part 7 tried to bring it back but failed, I have no idea what part 8 was, part 9 shall never be mentioned again, and Jason X was...fun, but still terrible. Freddy vs Jason pulled it off quite well, despite the ridiculous concept. Now we have the remake. Let me tell you why I think this is hands down the second best in the franchise and may very well be argued for best.

First off, I am not a fan of Michael Bay whatsoever. I hate the Transformers films, I think they are absolute garbage. He doesn't know how to make good films and the only director I despise more than him is Zack Snyder. But you know what? He helped bring new life to the Friday the 13th franchise. After crappy sequel after crappy sequel, he was able to make a Jason film that...(shocker) actually takes itself seriously again. Not only did it take itself seriously, but the intensity was ramped up to 11 in this film. Seriously, out of all the Jason films, has he ever been this smart, this ruthless, this EVIL? No, he hasn't. For once you actually FELT Jason's personal vendetta against the people who killed his mom. You FELT his revenge. Jason wasn't just a masked killer in this film, he was an entity that wanted revenge. What do you know? They actually made Jason scary again. Of course, the teenagers were dumb, the script was awful, the plot...eh, it is what it is. But just for the fact that they reimagined Jason into what he SHOULD be like, THAT is why this film is better than most of the Friday films. It took itself seriously, it tried to be pure horror and it brought Jason to an intensity like never seen before. I think this film gets hated on merely because it's "cool" to hate remakes, and people dismiss it as "more garbage" (which is what the Nightmare remake is...*shudders*") but this film does what the Friday films are supposed to do best. Give us a scary, ruthless Jason that kills many people out of revenge for seeing his mother get killed. When it comes to the character of Jason, this film did it perfectly, and I find it hard to believe anyone can argue why anything past part 4 is better than this film. I mean, just based on the opening 25 minutes alone, how could someone say that the Jason after part 4 is better?

[–] A-Zupreme 8 years ago

I didn't dislike this film as a slasher, but I hated it as a Friday the 13th remake. I was hoping to see something like the original, where camp counselors were getting killed off just because I really love summer camp horror movies. Unfortunately, this one seemed to cram the first four movies into one film and only devoted about a 2-minute (if that) flashback to the original which really f#cking sucks if the first was a favorite of your's like it was for me. Then, having a bunch of young adults getting slaughtered at a lake house is such a tired premise by now, even by slasher standards. I did appreciate that they attempted to incorporate Jason's one-time preference for bag-masks which was surprising to me since hockey mask Jason is such an iconic thing by now.

The creators had their heart in the right place for sure, it just didn't feel like a suitable remake for the classic template of the original movie, which was horny camp counselors getting axed at a secluded camp one by one until one girl remained to fight back. Though this movie was decent enough, it deviated too much from the original premise that (along with Halloween '78) helped setup the formula slasher purists love most.

[–] eviljawa101-245-848254 8 years ago

Personally, the whole thing just felt horribly mishandled. It didn't 'feel' like a Friday the 13th movie. In spite of the originals' many many problems, they at least had this sort of charm and personality to them. I don't want to say it was 'fun' per se, but there was almost this light-heartedness to them. They didn't take themselves too seriously, and that's what helped make the movies so entertaining and memorable. This reboot felt like an interpretation of Friday the 13th by someone who'd never actually seen any of the films. Horny teenagers? Check. Woods? Check. Kills? Check. Yet it lacked the proverbial 'magic' of the originals. It took itself too seriously without having a reason to. And look, if the filmmakers had wanted to make a darker and more suspenseful take on the material, that would have been fine. But that's not what they did. They took all the most superficial elements of the franchise, then just added a glossy finish. The film felt soulless and uninspired. It didn't have the entertainment value of the originals, nor the gritty and unsettling aesthetic it was trying to achieve.

[–] bradymossperfect 8 years ago

i thought it was great it made me miss the old 80's slashers and how all we got is paranormal pg13 crap coming out . horror movies suck now , bring the boobs back in horror , boobs and gore go together like bacon and eggs

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Negasonic_WoodChipper_Warhead 8 years ago

It's a good movie, but all the hate comes from people who saw the originals first, nostalgia fuels their hate. I saw all of those first two, but I don't hate this movie. They did try hard to appease the fans and make new ones. They included so much from the other movies to do this, I appreciate their efforts. Still love the older ones more though.

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[–] mwgfgrey 7 years ago

Well Halloween was a classic because it was so low budget with even lower expectations and killed it like a teenager investigating a crack in the woods at the box office. It was well made. I loved all the Friday the 13th movies up til 8. I'd watch 1-8 on USA when they played em as a marathon in the 90s. I also like this one. Yeah they kinda rushed it, but it still brought me back to the original.

[–] npiazza91 7 years ago

Thanks for the responses guys. Here's how I rank the series. I'll throw in Nightmare too for the heck of it.

Nightmare Original (one of the best slasher films ever)
Final Chapter (classic Jason, best one)
Remake (you know what I think of this one)
Freddy vs Jason (dumb concept done very well, pure fun)
Part 2 (classic Jason, best Friday cast, Terri)
New Nightmare (very well made, new, dark take on Freddy)
Nightmare 3 (campy, but still very fun)
Original (overrated, but fun)
Part 3 (campy, borderline parody, but still classic Jason)
Nightmare 4 (a bit ridiculous, doesn't take itself seriously at all, but fun)
Nightmare 2 (very dark story, underrated, but overall a bit too dumb)
Jason X (underrated, not that bad, pure campy fun)
Part 7 (way too many filler deaths, story is dumb, not terrible, but not good either)
Part 6 (overrated beyond belief, some cool deaths but pretty dumb overall)
Nightmare 6 (terrible in such a bad way it's actually funny)
Part 8 (utterly forgettable, hard to get through)
Nightmare 5 (boring, forgettable, stupid deaths, one of the worst plots ever)
Part 5 (pure crap, the definition of garbage)
Part 9 (this film never happened...nope)
Nightmare Remake (Loved it in the theater, watched it a again and every since then I hate it with such a burning passion and I have no idea why...I hate everything this movie does)

[–] ShallowAl69 7 years ago

For me, I don't hate this film, there was far, far too much flapping fun bags, as I've previously already mentioned somewhere on here. And, before you say, or don't say, it's got nothing to do with the fact that I'm gay.

The amount of titties in display in this film was just way too OTT for my liking. And I've seen showgirls the movie.

For me a Friday the 13th is about the kills. Pure and simple.

And, yes, there just simply has to be nudity also. Now I don't mind some nudity but in the reboot there was just so much female nudity it actually turned my stomachs (Charmed reference).

I realise that to have a slasher movie you have to have nudity but not this much nudity. It's not soft core porno.

Like I said I do not hate this film, but the rampant, incessant female nudity was worse than any Britney Spears 'song' or Jenny Aniston 'movie'

There was zero male nudity!

I'm not saying I want flopping dicks and cocks hanging out. But come on!

Is the director a homophobic douche? Or what?

Fingers crossed the forthcoming film will tone down on the boobies and concentrate on the carnage.

Just my opinion. Don't disembowel me. Please.

[–] TheGameMakker 7 years ago

Lets be real here, most people hate it because it's a remake and because of their nostalgia blinders. I can't take any of these people seriously who claim the rest of the F13 films have better writing, acting, or plot. It's just not true, F13 was NEVER known for having great writing or acting, even the plots weren't much(And some downright silly). I liked this remake, and I like the original franchise(In fact I just bought a boxset today of films 1-8). I think they did a pretty good job at updating a typical slasher classic.